Camillo Cavour Was the Architect of Italian Unification Discuss

“Camillo Cavour was the Architect of Italian Unification” Discuss.

Lack of introduction, a definition of 'architect' neede in order to frame the question and set the focus. What was the rôle of Garibaldi, Mazzini. Constructor and Utopian?

Discuss means presenting arguments both in favour of and against the statement.

First of all before we can answer this question we must learn more about Camillo Benso, the Count of Cavour (1810-1861) and the unification of Italy. The Italian unification, also known as il Risorgimento or “The Resurgence”, started at about the same time of the Vienna Congress in 1815 and ended in 1871, although Cavour didn’t have anything to do with politics until 1848.

Cavour got to the political battlefield in 1848 when the second wave of revolutions was starting. Not until 1852 did he become the prime minister of Piedmont-Sardinia during this year he had made great improvements to the economy of Piedmont and the wealth had greatly increased, and so Piedmont had become the strongest of the Italian states. Piedmont was also asked to help France, and Great-Britain in the Crimean War against Russia. He accepted to join the war in hope that the new western allies would support ambitions of Piedmont-Sardinia in uniting the states of Italy, although Cavour never had it on his mind that he would unite every single one of the states to one big, but some of them. As they joined the war Piedmont got a seat at the Paris peace convention.

Cavour also started to negotiate with the Emperor of France Napoleon III and so they agreed that Piedmont would provoke Austria to war and France would come and assist Piedmont in the conflict. Although international pressure from Russia, Prussia and Britain trying to get Piedmont disarmed the conflict started as Austria demanded Piedmont to disarm itself and so France saw Austria as the aggregator and went to assist its ally. Napoleon got convinced to sign the Treaty of Villafranca behind the back of Piedmont and so Cavour was furious of this although they got Lombardy and the central Italian states; these were acquired soon after the treaty as they got the upheavals under control. So he resigned for a moment as a protest but got back to the job in no time as he was impatient with the government slowing down the process. Finally Nice and Savoy were officially given to France as Piedmont had got full control of Tuscany and Emilia. The first stage of the unification was complete and now it was up to Giuseppe Garibaldi to get southern Italy under Piedmont rule.

For a short while Garibaldi ruled the southern Italy and Sicily with a dictatorship for a short while and was about to invade the Papal States but Cavour couldn’t risk the fact that France would declare war so he quickly invaded Papal regions Umbria and Marches and Garibaldi met Victor Emanuel II and handed over his powers over southern Italy and Sicily to the king, thus uniting Italy.

Throughout the Italian unification Camillo Cavour was with no doubt one of the main people who influenced all the way. When he died in 1861 only Venetia and the Papal States where not part of Italy. I think that it was his motivation and skills which made possible for the states of Italy unite.

For example if he hadn’t become the prime minister again the government wouldn’t have been able to unite Italy as they were too busy procrastinating with the process. So in my opinion Camillo Cavour is the true architect of the Italian unification, although he started on the politics as late as 1848, when the upheavals started again and was only part of the second Italian war of independence.

It can be argued off course that because he wasn’t taking part at the first steps of the unification, when it started in 1815, he really can’t be the true architect, but I think that this shouldn’t be a valid argument, because he was the one who put the pedal to the metal with the whole process and didn’t procrastinate at all, but made swift and tactical moves. As well he’s primary goal at first wasn’t even to unite the whole of Italy but to make the Sardinian-Piedmont kingdom economically, politically and territorially stronger. So to finally conclude and using these points I think that Camillo Cavour was the architect in a sense of what he achieved but not in a sense as he just basically continued the process where it had been left off.

Good conclusion but the essay quite brief. The timespan not focused. When is the unification completed? What about Cavour's rôle the years after his death?

11/20

Sources

Cavour and Garibaldi

An analysis and an evaluation of their significance in the Italian Unification 1861

Axel N. 10I

17/09/2011

1. Introduction

In 1861, the many states of the Apennine Peninsula unified and became one state; the United Kingdom of Italy. This process was due to a few important figures, most notably Count Camillo di Cavour, prime minister of the Kingdom of Piedmont, and Giuseppe Garibaldi, an Italian hero. In this essay, I will delve deeper into these two men, and evaluate why it has been claimed that both of them were necessary for the Italian Unification, and to what extent.

Good introduction in which the question is definied and focused

2. Background History

2.1 The Italian States

As already mentioned, the Apennine Peninsula consisted of several different smaller states. After the fall of Napoleon, the Italian states started to revert back into what they had been before; eleven different states, as opposed to the three Italian states during the Napoleonic era. The Pope, who had lost power during the French occupation, regained his power after the fall of Napoleon. He then proceeded to divide the Papal States into seventeen different provinces.[1] After the Congress of Vienna, Austria regained control over Lombardy and Venice, two of the most economically firm Italian states. Outside of this, Austria had considerable influence on several other Italian states. This, in combination with the political division between the Italian states, the autonomy of the Papal States, and the small amount of power and influence held by the Italian leaders, were factors that interfered with the unification of the states of the Apennine Peninsula.[2]

2.2 Camillo di Cavour

Camillo di Cavour was born in Turin, 1810. His family had very close ties to the Napoleonic regime, Cavour's godparents were Prince Camillo Borghese and Pauline Bonaparte, Napoleon's favorite sister.[3] As the second son of his family, he was expected to obtain a military position. At the age of ten he enrolled at the military academy in Turin. After his studies were finished, he received a comission in the engineers. He spent the following five years in the army, at various Alpine fortresses, as well as Ventimiglia and Genoa.[4]

In his spare time, however, he comitted himself to his studies, particularly of the English language. He did this to better understand the newspapers reporting political events in Europe.[5] During this time, Cavour also developed Liberal tendencies, as well as a negative view of absolutism and clericalism. These views made him a suspect of the reactionaires, and he was subjected to police surveillance. Still, there is no evidence that suggests he would have joined any kind of conspiracy, as he was too loyal to his king. This changed when the throne passed on to Charles Albert, who Cavour did not trust.He resigned his comission in 1831.[6]

After his resignation from the military, Cavour embarked on a journey of Europe. He visited Paris and London, to study the parliamentery debates held there. After a quicker tour through the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland, he ended up back in Turin. Inspired by the thought's he'd developed during his journey, he began to tackle economic problems in his area. He experimented with different agricultural techniques, such as the use of the sugar beet, and he was one of the first Italians to use chemical fertilizers. He was also a supporter of steam-powered travel, and he founded the Piedmotese Agricultural Society.[7]

Cavour dreamed of revolting against Austrian occupation of north Italy. He believed that such a revolt would be possible through the use of liberalism and nationalism. In 1847, he founded Il Risorgimento, a newspaper in which he could publish his own political views.In 1848, revolution broke out in Sicily, and Cavour used this event to hold several public speeches, as well as publish articles in Il Risorgimento, in favor of a Piedmontese constitution. On February 8th the same year, King Charles Albert yielded to these demands, and granted a charter of liberties for his kingdom. Six weeks later, the Milanese went to war against Austria, and Cavour managed to convince the king to join the war. During this time, elections were held, and Cavour made it into Parliament. However, almost exactly a year later, the Piedmontese were defeated, and King Charles Albert abdicated. His son, Victor Emmanuel II, took the throne and was forced to sign a treaty with Austria. Still, despite this setback, Cavour kept fighting for Italian independence.[8]

2.3 Giuseppe Garibaldi

Giuseppe Garibaldi was born in Nice, 1807. His father, Domenico, was a fisherman and trader, and Garibaldi decided to follow in his father's footsteps. He was already a sailor at the early age of 17. He traveled across the Mediterranean and Black seas, and in 1832 he became a merchant captain. In 1833, Garibaldi joined the Piedmontese navy, and also a group called Young Italy. Young Italy was an organization of the Italian patriot and revolutionary, Giuseppe Mazzini, who would also play a part in the Italian Unification almost twenty years later. In association with Young Italy, Garibaldi became involved in a mutiny. The mutiny failed, and Garibaldi fled to France. In his absence, a Genoan court condemned him to death.[9]

In 1836, Garibaldi sailed from Marseilles to Rio Grande, a province that was fighting against Brazilian rule at the time. In the end, he didn't do much outside of preying on the Brazilian shipments. After a streak of Brazilian victories in 1839-1840, Garibaldi left Rio Grande. He settled in Montevideo, where he tried living as a civilian, but this didn't work out, as Garibaldi was a very adventurous person. He joined the Uruguayan war of liberation, and formed an Italian company by the name of the Redshirts. After winning a heroic victory in 1846, his name spread across the world, even back to Italy, where he was donated a sword of honor.[10]

Upon hearing about the war against Austria in 1848, Garibaldi returned to Nice with 80 men. He offered his services to the king of Piedmont, Charles Albert, and fought the Austrians along the Milanese. Even after Piedmont withdrew from the war, Garibaldi continued fighting the Neapolitan and French armies attempting to quell the revolutionaries in Italy. After months of arduous fighting, Garibaldi retreated through central Italy, and disappeared. In 1850, he was found in America, working as a candle-maker. Within that year he traveled to Peru, where he obtained a ship that he sailed under the Peruan flag. In 1855, he returned to Italy, where he bought part of the island of Caprera, where he built himself a home.

3. The Unification of Italy

Cavour's objective's and policie's in modernizing and industrializing Piedmont. Britain an ideal also politically.

The Crimean War and how Cavour made use of it in a pragmatic way should have been included.

3.1 Cavour and Northern Italy

At this point, Cavour had already started to develop ideas of a unified Italy. According to cavour, unification would only succeed if a strong nation lead it, in this case Piedmont. To help him reach his goals, Cavour needed the help of a powerful ally. This ally turned out to be Napoleon III of France. France was a territorial enemy of Austria, who still held large parts of northern Italy. Besides this, France supported the idea of a unified Italy. After meeting up and formally agreeing to the partnership, Piedmont began causing trouble in one of the Austrian provinces. This caused Austria to declare war against Piedmont. France then arrived to aid it's ally, in exchange for Nice and Savoy. The war turned in France-Piedmont's favour, and the plan seemed to be working, until two events happened. First of all, Prussia began mobilizing an army to come to the aid of Austria. Secondly, more and more Italian states joined with Piedmont to fight Austria. Both of these events alarmed Napoleon III, and he secretly signed a peace treaty with Austria to end the war, much to Piedmont's frustration. Still, Piedmont obtained Lombardy from Austria, and the kingdom had at this point greatly increased in size.[11]

3.2 Garibaldi and Southern Italy

Garibaldi and Cavour met in 1858. Cavour asked Garibaldi to help with the war against Austria, and Garibaldi accepted. When the war ended, Garibaldi retreated back to the south. He was as disappointed in the French peace treaty as Cavour was. In 1860, however, Garibaldi again decided to fight for a unified Italy. Sicily had long been a kingdom with a corrupt government, and Garibaldi began to gather troops for a takeover. His actions were supported by Piedmont and Cavour, though Garibaldi would only obtain physical support if his campaign was successful.[12] Garibaldi did not disappoint. After only two months, Garibaldi's less skilled and ill equipped Redshirts stood as conquerors of the kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Garibaldi now set his sights on mainland Italy and Rome. This alarmed Cavour, as an assault on Rome would make France and Austria intervene, to defend the Pope. If they did this, the entire plan of unification would have crumbled to pieces. Therefore, Cavour helped Garibaldi by encouraging and supporting riots and uprisings in the Papal States. Garibaldi could now enter the Papal area under the false intention of maintaining order. Around two thirds of the Papal States joined with Piedmont, though not Rome. On September 18 the same year, Garibaldi made one of the most noble gestures in Italian history, namely he gave all the land he had gained to Piedmont. This is considered the Unification of Italy.[13]

Although an Italian state was now formed, it was not yet complete. Rome was still independent and under the protection of France, while Venetia was still Austrian land. However, an opportunity for the annexation arrived in the form of the Austro-Prussian War. Italy was offered Venetia from both of the conflicting parties. Austria promised Italy Venetia if Italy stayed outside of the war, whereas Prussia offered Venetia in exchange for Italy as an ally in the war. The Italians decided to join the war, and even though they fought poorly, Prussia still won the war and held their end of the bargain. Prussia also helped in the annexation of Rome, though in a completely different way. The Franco-Prussian War broke out in 1870, forcing Napoleon III to pull out troops from Rome. Italian troops marched into Rome meeting no resistance. In the same year, Rome voted to join Italy, and a year later, it became capital.[14]

4. Evaluation of Cavour's and Garibaldi's Necessity to the Unification of Italy

The question for me to answer was; "Why has it been claimed that Italian Unification needed both a Cavour and a Garibaldi?" The answer to this question is quite simple. Cavour held the political power to perform the unification, whereas Garibaldi was a hero in the people's eyes. Both of these men where needed, and the unification would not have succeeded in this stage without both. The big issue was the virtually nonexistant unity between the different peoples of the Apennine Peninsula. During the Unification, two major unifying factors had to be used; the general dislike of Austrian influence, and Giuseppe Garibaldi.

Cavour managed to take care of the first unifying factor; dislike of Austria. During the many clashes between Piedmont and Austria, many of the Italian states joined the Piedmontese side. This must have created some kind of unity, as the Italian states were fighting togehter to rid themselves of a common enemy. Even though they initially lost, the war itself did much to strengthen the feelings of unity.

The second considerable unifying factor was Garibaldi himself. Since he was a hero to the common people, he could raise interest in people who maybe would not have cared too much wether or not Italy was unified. Garibaldi was also essential for the joining of the south, as the southern Italians still didn't feel as is they belonged with the northern Italians. This was partially because of social differences, the south was poor whereas the north was rich, the situation is still the same today, and partially because the further south in Italy you headed, the less Austrian influence could be found. This means that the southern Italians were not interested in joining Piedmont's war, and in effect did not experience the same mental unification as the north.